Benefits of conducting one-on-ones with employees

Effective one-on-one meetings offer a variety of benefits to employees, managers and the overall organization. Here are a few common benefits you might experience from holding regular one-on-ones.

Improved relationships. Making time for coffee with a friend every weekend improves your relationship because you have dedicated time to chat, share stories and deepen your knowledge of each other. While your work relationships aren’t necessarily so personal, the same benefit occurs when you meet regularly with employees. You get to know them better and set a tone for improved relationships and culture in the workplace.
More effective problem solving. Opening the door for staff to present concerns and ideas paves the way to creative problem solving that’s supported by more inputs and information. These meetings can uncover issues leadership didn’t even know about or present solutions they would never have thought of.
Increased employee morale. When staff feel their opinions are heard and matter, morale and engagement is usually higher. And when leaders work to address issues discovered in one-on-ones, morale can increase even more.
Discovering employees with high potential. Speaking regularly with employees helps leaders discover people who are passionate about the company, have specific necessary skills and experience or who might have untrained potential for leadership or other positions in the future.
Improved success with goals. Regular meetings with your team members lets you check in on goals, create plans together to ensure success with various milestones and encourage and coach individuals through those processes.
Feedback for better leadership. One-on-ones also provide feedback for leadership so they can continue to improve how they manage their teams.

What makes a good one-on-one? 

While you may want to allow some time for personal chit chat—if the employee seems like they want to engage in it—remember that a one-on-one is still a business-facing meeting. Yes, you want to allow time to get to know each other and humanize the interaction. But you should also have an agenda or plan to keep the meeting on track.

Some topics to cover can include:

A personal check in with the employee. They might want to share about an important life milestone or might be pleased if you ask about their children, spouse or pets. This isn’t something you should bring up with every employee, but if you’ve previously discussed these things with someone, it can be nice to ask for a brief update.
A business-facing check in. You also want to find out how the employee is doing with their work and position. Are they happy with their work, what challenges are they facing and what can you do to help them achieve production success?
Comments and suggestions. Offer time for the employee to bring up comments and suggestions related to the business, even if they aren’t directly related to the person’s own position and goals. They might have seen a process that makes no sense or could be done quicker, and making space for employees at all levels to propose ideas and solutions gives you more information to work with.
The employee’s future goals. Talk about employee goals, what might be appropriate for them and how they can plan and forge ahead to achieve those goals.
How you can best support the employee and the team at large.Provide time for the employee to give you feedback as a leader if desired.

What can you ask an employee in a one-on-one?

Typically, the questions you ask an employee in a one-on-one meeting should be geared toward business. Avoid super personal questions—many organizations discourage personal questions at all if the employee hasn’t already opened the door.

For example, you don’t want to ask an employee if they’re married, have children or whether they’re dealing with a medical condition. However, if the employee has previously told you about their spouse and children, such as sharing a personal story here or there or showing you pictures, then you can ask how the loved ones are doing.

Other personal questions should be approached with care, but if the employee was sick last week and called in to tell you they wouldn’t be working because they didn’t feel well, it’s probably OK in most situations to ask generally how they’re feeling. The goal is not to pry or appear to be prying while also demonstrating an appropriate level of human care.

Some questions you might consider asking employees during one-on-ones can include:

What is something you enjoyed doing in your job this past week/month, and what’s something you didn’t enjoy? Why?
What are some high/low points of the job recently?
What’s one thing you can do to help them?
What one thing would they change about team management or processes?
What’s a challenge that the employee or employees in general are facing that leadership might not know about?
What might be causing stress for the employee?

7 steps to effective and productive one-on-ones with employees

Strong leaders eventually find their own cadence and style for conducting one-on-ones with employees. You may even find different styles that work for various employees. But here are some steps you might start with.

Set aside regular time. One-on-ones work best when they’re not one-offs. Make time to meet monthly, quarterly or at other periods that work best for you and your teams.


Create an agenda. Let people know what you’re going to discuss ahead of time to reduce anxiety on their part and ensure they come to the meeting prepared. You might also want to ask them if there’s a specific topic they want to discuss and include it on the agenda.


Start with a general check-in or conversation. Start with something general or personal before diving in. You might simply ask the employee how everything is going.


Address goals and objectives. Include a check-in on goals and objectives—where the employee is with them and what challenges they’re experiencing.


Recognize achievements. Take time to praise the team member for good work.


Provide employees time for feedback. Ask the employee for general concerns or feedback on your leadership.
Keep it professional but flexible. The agenda should guide the one-on-one so you don’t forget critical elements, but it shouldn’t restrict you and the employee from discussing other things that may also be important.

How often should you have one-on-ones?

The frequency of one-on-ones depends on how much time is available, the experience of your team members and how big your teams are. But you may want to schedule them at least once a month on a regular basis for the most effective one-on-one meetings.Type your paragraph here.

Benefits for managers

As a manager, 1:1s help you guide your team members’ development, resolve issues early on, and improve employee retention.

To unleash the potential of the people you manage, you must engage and bond with each individual. There is no shortcut for building real connections. Dedicated one-on-one conversations create the space and trust to ensure you know what’s on your team members’ minds – and take actions to keep them happy and productive.

Gallup has found that when managers provide weekly (vs. annual) feedback, team members are much more motivated to do outstanding work and are generally more engaged.

1:1 meetings are also a great way to get timely upward feedback that help you become a better manager. By asking your team members how you can better support them, you get useful information on what’s expected from you as a manager and how you can improve in your role.

Benefits for the business

Company success stands and falls with the effort managers put into connecting with their team members. So a healthy 1:1 meeting culture is not only great for individuals, but it can also affect the bottom line of your business.

Google’s Project Oxygen research shows that managers who have frequent 1:1 meetings with their reports tend to score higher in performance than managers who don’t have these check-ins. So the more often 1:1s happen in an organization, the better the performance of the average manager.

Besides the connection between manager success and business success, regular 1:1 meetings are a great tool to increase engagement. When each employee has the chance to ask their manager for information on where the organization is headed and how their work fits into the bigger picture, they’re much more invested in your organization. And engagement is a known indicator of retention and productivity.

1:1 meeting tips for participants

Frequency: how often to meet

Many managers ask themselves: how often should I have 1:1 meetings with my reports? Is once a month enough, or does it have to be weekly? The answer is simple. Getting into a habit of having 1:1s in the first place is what really matters. Best practices aside, you need to find a cadence that works for you and your team members. Still, there are some rules of thumb you can consider.

The sweet spot of 1:1 meeting frequency is to meet every week or two for 30 to 60 minutes. Google re:Work, Radical Candor author Kim Scott, and many others promote this range.

Weekly 1:1s should be the default. But depending on the depth of collaboration and number of reports, you may reduce the frequency of 1:1 meetings. If you and your reports collaborate closely and can chat all day every day, consider having bi-weekly meetings. With more than five team members, it’s fine to meet every other week, too.

Monthly 1:1s should be the exception because a lot of things can happen in a month, and you risk losing touch with your people.

Logistics: where and how to meet

Face-to-face conversations offer the richest form of communication. So whenever possible, meet in person. If you can’t make it in person, rather than canceling the meeting, move to the next-richest medium: video.

When you are both in the same office, a small conference room is often the most convenient and quiet space. Once you have a solid 1:1 routine, consider adding some spice by leaving the office every now and then. Head outside for a walk, go to a café, be creative. But no matter where you meet, pick a place where you and your report feel comfortable speaking openly.

In a remote environment, try to get as close to a face-to-face conversation as possible. The 100% distributed team at Zapier does 1:1s through video chat, as their CFO Jenny Bloom told us. Nonverbal cues are essential for communication, so video chat and in-person meetings are superior to text and calls. A solid tech stack is a requirement for effective remote 1:1s. Invest in stable internet as well as high-quality video and audio for each participant – it will pay off.

Preparing for a 1:1 meeting

Preparing for a 1:1 meeting ensures that nothing important falls through the cracks, and you are making the best use of both participants’ time. Don’t rush through a rigid agenda, just write down some talking points you want to bring up during the meeting.

Thinking about topics to discuss in advance also allows you to be concise and specific during the meeting. It helps you appear more confident and focused. You may also share your talking points, so the other person can better prepare for the upcoming meeting.

Want to make 1:1 meetings employee-driven? Sharing talking points with the manager prior to the meeting “allows the employee to guide the conversation in the way that they want,” says Katelin Holloway, VP of People and Culture at Reddit.

1:1 meeting notes

Creating a summary of the key outcomes and sharing them with the other participant – either during or after the meeting – helps eliminate misunderstandings. It also makes it easier to follow up on things you talked about. In addition, you can take private notes to keep a personal record of how the 1:1 went and capture key takeaways for future reference.

1:1 meetings are valuable with or without taking notes, so do whatever works best for you to get into the habit of meeting regularly. But acknowledge that a few minutes of note-taking can go a long way.

1:1 meeting tools

As with any other meeting, there are several ways to manage your 1:1s.

The most bare-bones solution is to have a recurring calendar event and take notes in a physical notebook or the note-taking app of your choice.

If you want to take it to the next level, 1:1 meeting software can help you collaborate on agendas and follow up on your discussions. Some features that these tool might offer:

Share talking points with each other in advance and add shared notes afterwards.
Create private talking points and notes if you have thoughts that you don’t want to immediately share with the other person.
Customize 1:1 templates for regular check-ins and specific topics like goal setting or career development.

If the 1:1 meeting tool is part of performance management software, you may also be able to easily prepare for 1:1 meetings by reviewing the other person’s goals, feedback they’ve received, and any notes you’ve taken previously.Type your paragraph here.


THEATRE

Conducting One on One's